5th edition of the Summer Course Theory, Methods and Applications of Social Networks. The measurament of personal networks (2 ECTS*)

4 - 8 July 2011Computer Lab "B5B/-131 Aula 33"(Facultat de Lletres-Psicologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).Registration deadline: 20th June 2011.PresentationThe aim of this 5th edition of the summer course is to enable graduate students in the social sciences to create, compare and critique personal network research designs. On the first day, we will discuss the basic definitions and central concepts in personal network research and will briefly relate personal networks with various theoretical streams in the social sciences. This will give students an understanding of the requirements that researchers may pose to their instruments. We will then introduce the basic steps of measurement of personal networks in survey research. On the second day, we will focus on the name generators. Students will be introduced to the variety of name generators used in social sciences, which will be compared with respect to contents, the characteristics of the measured networks and ties, the reliability and validity of the measures, and respondent burden. Many empirical applications will be discussed during this session. In the third session, we will discuss the measurement of basic name interpreters, such as tie strength, roles and contexts. The fourth session is devoted to mixed method designs in personal network research. It is shown how qualitative interviews can be used as a tool to better interpret the meaning, composition and structure of personal networks. In the last session, we will discuss several complex research designs, such as longitudinal studies, community studies, and duo-centered studies. Finally an international seminar on personal networks will end the course.